The need for speed: is it an addiction?

New research will determine whether some drivers are incapable of sticking to the speed limit.

The need for speed: is it an addiction?

Tim Reid is hovering near his car and holding his helmet, which means he is about to be transformed.

"You get 'helmet head'," he says. "As soon as you put the helmet on you're a different person. You sort of feel invincible."

Mr Reid, 28, has paid his regular $80 for the privilege of taking his hotted-up Subaru for a spin at Wakefield Park Raceway.

It beats the risk of getting caught street-racing; beside his number plate, he has the P-plates to prove he has been no angel on the road in years past.

He is what some refer to as a speed addict.

A team of psychologists and cultural researchers from Sydney universities plan to investigate the concept of speed addiction which, if credible, could prompt new thinking about the way authorities manage the roads.

Sarah Redshaw of the University of Western Sydney said that in previous research she had conducted on young drivers, some had expressed an inability to get into a car without speeding.

"They're talking in terms of something they can't control," Dr Redshaw said. "That's why it needs investigating, because it could be an uncontrollable impulse. If there could be such a thing as speed addiction, it would need to be dealt with like other addictions."

Garry Willmington, who manages Wakefield Park, believes many of the people he sees are speed addicts. "They don't recognise it but I can see it a mile off because they just can't help themselves," he said.

Mr Willmington became a race car driver 30 years ago to channel his taste for speed, after getting booked for driving dangerously. He decided to open the circuit to the public regularly, partly to provide a controlled environment for people who have a compulsion to drive fast.

"I believe the best cure is to get it out of your system. I don't believe you can suppress it," he said.

"If [the RTA] could recognise the fact that people have a problem and they could work out how to deal with it, it would definitely save road deaths."

A University of Sydney psychologist and self-professed speed lover, Alex Blaszczynski, believes that the thrill of speeding comes from neurochemical changes in the brain as the result of adrenaline.

"The question then is whether this particular behaviour leads to an addictive process or whether people just enjoy doing it," he said. Is [speed] fulfilling some need, or is it something he wants? I think it's something he wants."

The Roads and Traffic Authority says speeding is a factor in more than 40 per cent of crashes.